The Golden Knights had been targeting Pacioretty since the 2018 NHL Draft in June, general manager George McPhee said.
"Took a couple of months. It's been ongoing," McPhee said. "Sometimes a lot of talk, sometimes quiet. Things picked up in the last 3-4 days. We were getting to a place Sunday] morning to where a deal was possible, and we had a window of 6-7 hours until about 7 p.m. last night to get a deal done with the player. This deal wasn't going to happen if we didn't have an extension.
"We thought it was an opportunity that would be good for this hockey club if we could make it work."
***[RELATED: [Pacioretty traded to Golden Knights by Canadiens | Pacioretty trade puts Golden Knights on track to win Stanley Cup | Fantasy spin]*
Pacioretty had 37 points (17 goals, 20 assists) in 64 games with the Canadiens last season, missing the final 18 games of the regular season with a knee injury. He had been the Canadiens captain since Sept. 18, 2015.
"Max can come here and just play hockey now," McPhee said. "Doesn't have to be captain -- won't be the captain, we've got 23 captains -- we're going to play and he's just going to play.
"He can score goals, and I think from 2011 or 2012, he's third in goal-scoring in this league. He's a productive player, he brings speed, he brings some size (6-foot-2, 206 pounds), and he fits our club. He is a very good two-way player, you can play him (in) a lot of different situations.
Selected by Montreal with the No. 22 pick in the 2007 NHL Draft, Pacioretty has 448 points (226 goals, 222 assists) in 626 regular-season games and 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in 38 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He has scored at least 30 goals in a season five times, including four straight from 2013-17.
"We thought we are a better team today than we were yesterday," McPhee said. "We think he is going to be a good fit. ... I hope that we're a better team than we were last year. Time will tell."
NHL.com correspondent Danny Webster contributed to this report.
